The brain

The human brain is composed of approximately 86 billion neurons.

Neurons are brain messengers - they are responsible for carrying information throughout the brain and then on to the muscles and organs so the body could function effectively.

Neurons are the longest-living cells in our bodies and they are malleable or changeable.

Fun fact about the brain: While it represents only about 2 percent of the body's total weight, the brain requires about 20 percent of the body's oxygen and 25 percent of the body's glucose.

Neuroplasticity

In referring to neuroplasticity, we are really talking about the brain which isn’t fixed at birth or childhood; we are talking about a marvelous brain that is constantly evolving with time and experience.

Think of your brain as clay in the potter’s hand - with every spin of the wheel coupled with pressure and molding by the potter’s hand, the clay takes shape. That is exactly how our brain is. With every spin of experience, it is being shaped.

The saying that “a leopard never changes its spots”, in reference to how we aren’t different today as we were yesterday, isn’t true. Our behaviours and thoughts today are different than they were twenty years ago.

History of neuroplasticity

Early researchers believed that neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons, stopped shortly after birth or early childhood. Today, researchers prove that the brain possesses the remarkable capacity to reorganize pathways, create new connections, and, in some cases, even create new neurons.

With the advent in MRI and brain technology, researchers are able to get a never-before-possible look at the brain's inner workings. Brain scans of patients with traumatic experiences who were able to change the structure of their brains with focused and determined thoughts and actions convinced researchers that the evolution to the brain doesn’t cease with time, age or trauma. People are not limited to the mental abilities they are born with and that damaged brains are often quite capable of remarkable change.

Types of neuroplasticity

There are two types of neuroplasticity:

Structural plasticity: The brain's ability to actually change its physical structure as a result of learning.

Functional plasticity: The brain's ability to move functions from a damaged area of the brain to other undamaged areas.

Stronger with use and repetition

Neuroplasticity is likened to building muscles in the brain. Similar to lifting weights in the gym, that which we do often and reinforce with repetition and time, we become stronger at; that which we don’t, fades away.

Connections within the brain are constantly becoming stronger or weaker, depending on what is being used and repeated. Younger people change easily because their brains are very plastic. As we age change doesn't come as easily; the brain loses some of its plasticity and we become more fixed in how we think, learn, and perceive. Nevertheless, neuroplasticity is at work throughout life.

With every repetition of a thought or emotion, we reinforce a neural pathway - and with each new thought, we begin to create a new way of being. These small changes, repeated frequently enough, lead to changes in how our brains work. As our brain changes, our actions, behaviors and thoughts change.

Why is neuroplasticity important?

Knowledge is important because knowledge empowers change. If we didn’t know our brains could change, we would be content with knowing that our brain is fixed at birth or childhood, and if we are unhappy about how we are as a person - the way we think, behave and react, we would feel helpless about changing ourselves. Knowing that neuroplasticity is at work in our lives, gives us the hope and tools to utilize that and change our lives for the better.

Tired of being down, moody, impatient, lonely, worthless, doubtful, judgmental, poverty-minded or anything negative? You can change your thoughts, actions, behaviors, habits and ultimately the outcome of your life.

How do I change my life, you ask? By applying these three steps, simply abbreviated as ARC:

Aware

Recognize your negative self talk. Don’t judge it. Just recognize it. Watch how you talk to yourself. Be a conscious observer of your thoughts without judgment.

Reverse

Attach a positive thought to each negative thought. I personally find it helpful to write each of my negative thoughts down. It’s clearer when I could see the negativity on paper, to which I could then write a positive next to each negative.

I do it this way:

Confess

There is something very powerful when we speak. Taking a leaf from the Bible, when God created the world, He spoke the world into existence, He created something out of the void. Thus our words are meant to create, not merely to communicate. When we speak, we speak something into existence.

It is not enough to merely replace negative thoughts with positive ones. We have to take a step further and speak it out loud. No, it’s not weird at all to speak out loud to ourselves. Why should it be? If we speak to others, why can’t we speak to ourselves?

On a daily basis, look at the list of positives you’ve written and speak them out loud.

This may seem too good to be true or even too woo-woo but I guarantee you, if you practice these three steps, your life would change according to what you’ve thought, written down and confessed repeatedly.

It is not too late to change your life. Start today and step into your best life.

How to live your best life: Rewire your brain